Dramatic scenes in St. Pölten: After a cellar fire, a high-rise building on Josefstrasse was so filled with life-threatening smoke that residents had to be moved to safety – it was a last-minute rescue!
“I immediately noticed from the smell that something was wrong,” says the still shocked Kenan Cenanovic, resident of the fire at Josefstrasse 116. It is thanks to his presence of mind that the fire, which broke out around 4:30 a.m. a minute started, resulted in a major catastrophe. Because the father of the family had run into the cellar with his sixth sense and immediately felt the threatening size of the initially small sea of flames. “I immediately went back into the apartment, woke up my loved ones and then called the fire brigade via the emergency call,” says the courageous St. Pöltner, who then extinguished the fire in the basement and suffered burns. His family has now warned other residents of the house.
Fire caused several injuries
What he modestly does not mention: increasingly dense and dangerous smoke gases floated through the stairwell to the upper floors. The Florianis from five fire brigades quickly arrived on the scene. They did great things in the anxious morning hours. Thanks to their careful actions, the 67 Florianis managed to get a total of 45 residents from their apartments to safety. Nevertheless, eight people – including a firefighter due to a slipped protective mask – suffered smoke poisoning. Two of them had to be taken to hospital.
Residents safely housed
Mayor Matthias Stadler and his municipal experts had now arrived at the scene of the fire to coordinate relief measures. First step of the emergency plan initiated on site: The victims of the fire accident were taken to a nearby shopping center and later to a primary school due to the bitter cold.
Other affected people have now found shelter with relatives and families. According to the mayor, two families were taken to the warm safety of a hotel.
Cleaning up in the basement
During Sunday morning, the fire brigade professionally cleared the affected basement of fire residues, so that the remains could not ignite again and highly toxic gases could be sucked through the residential building again.
On Monday, fire investigators from the State Criminal Investigation Department will likely reach a conclusion about the cause of the near-inferno. However, in the hours after the extinguishing operation, it became increasingly clear that an electrical fault had caused the serious accident with significant material damage.
Source: Krone
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